Target Market of Holden Monaro
The Holden Monaro is a coupe sports car in the line of HSV, or Holden Sports Vehicles, made by its namesake Australian company. The car comes in a couple different specifications, but the engine is always either a V6 or a V8, making it a powerful and fast vehicle. The original Monaro was created in 1968 with different “species” of car throughout the next three years. The second generation of Holden Monaros was begun in 1971, which changed the body design of the car completely as well as made the V6 engine no longer an option.
The 1970’s Monaro was definitely a muscle car, though over the years until 1977 the vehicle became more of a luxury sedan instead of the hard muscle it had begun with. The Monaro was finally reborn in the 2000’s and did very well in the Australian marketplace. There were a couple of reasons for the public interest in this vehicle, and much of it had to do with how the car was positioned in the marketplace. What exactly where the target market segments? Well the most likely market segment would be the demographic segment of men between the age of 30 and all the way up to 65.
These men would certainly have to be wealthy, seeing as the base price for a Monaro was roughly $60,000. These men would enjoy driving fast and powerful sports cars and would enjoy the effect that the car had on their reputation and status. Another possible market segment could be younger men, probably tradesmen of some sort, who have a lot of expendable money and who might be adrenaline chasers or “hoons”. These younger men would probably also enjoy driving fast and would revel in the power of a V8 engine.
The positioning of the Monaro in the marketplace would have meant that Holden tailor their entire marketing scheme to the market segment that they wanted to sell to. This would mean they would have to make the car look sleek and fast, which is perhaps why you see a lot of red or yellow models because these colours stand out, they are bold. The price had to be tailored to fit the needs of the consumer, which seeing as the price is so high, must not have been that much of an issue.
The distinct identity that this vehicle has in the marketplace is that it is a phoenix of cars, reborn out of the old model of the Holden Monaro and made into a new, slick version. Holden would position this in the market by saying that it is the most powerful mainstream Holden to be brought out, drawing people who desire that kind of brawn and intensity in a car. The focus of appeal for the vehicle was how the Monaro made a possible consumer feel. The older men would feel nostalgia by thinking of the old Monaro, even though the style of body would be different, the emotional attachment to the name of Monaro would be the same.
The younger generation might look at the vehicle and feel drawn to its subtle curves and sporty body design, featuring the double scoop on the hood of the car. The focus of appeal might be imagining yourself behind the wheel of the Monaro and feeling the power of the engine and the bucket racing seats, knowing that the car you are driving is both luxurious and nimble. Something about just looking at the car or watching an advertisement on the television would stir an emotion in the target market, and make them likely to go for a test drive and ultimately (hopefully) purchase the car.
In my personal opinion, the Holden Monaro does not hold a spectacularly distinct product position from the other Holden Sports Vehicles in that line of cars. The newer models of Holden Commodores are also revitalised versions of the same vehicle from the 1970’s. Though I think they key difference is that the Commodore has been remade almost every five or so years, and with the Holden Monaro there was a gap of about 20 years before the new models were created.
This gap of such a long period most likely established a stronger nostalgic connection between the consumer and the vehicle. Also, as previously stated, the Holden Monaro was designed to be the most powerful Holden in the mainstream marketplace, which is unique in itself without much explanation. The market that the car is designed for is full of people that most likely enjoy having the best of things, and perhaps especially so, like having their cars be the best.
Considering the demand for the car and the amount of orders for the Monaro received, it would not seem that the Monaro had done damage to the Holden Sports Vehicle industry. People are still purchasing other Holden Sports Vehicles, such as the ever popular Commodore or the less commonly seen Holden Maloo. Even when the sales for the Monaro dropped, the popularity of the other HSV did not decrease (except for the effects of the economic recession) and the other Holden sports vehicles are still readily available and popular to those that can afford them.
Consumer interest for the Holden Monaro would have been analysed and assessed through many different mediums. The marketers at Holden would have had to look at the past performance of the Holden Monaro, even though the last production of it was 20 odd years before, and see how the car did in that market, and presumably market it to the same personality-type of people. The type of person who would purchase a muscle car in the seventies would not be so different from the type of person who would purchase the same muscle/sports car today.
Especially since, the trend in Australia was (and still is really) to buy an expensive Holden (Australian-made) sports car that was an icon of status and that drove swiftly and powerfully. The Australian culture has a lot to do with materialism and the pursuit of earthly pleasures and the Monaro fits into that lifestyle, social and personal categories. Australians enjoy the finer things in life and prefer to spend more money on a car with a V8 engine even though the cost of gas would be astronomical and on a car with a sleek and sinuous body type.
These are the cultural preferences of today in Australia (and much of the Westernised world). Knowing this information, it would be easy to pick a market segment and appeal to the consumers that do want nice items and that do want the nostalgia of driving a reborn muscle car. The culture is not to be practical, or everyone would be buying $5,000 electric cars that don’t go above 60kph. Knowing all of these aspects of the Australian culture, Holden as an Australian company would have an easier time marketing to the segment they want to sell to. References: Wikipedia, RSSportsCars. com. au, HSV. com. au
